The Best of Town and Country

THE BEST OF town & country

Letchworth is a town where history and heritage can be found on every corner, each telling a small but crucial part of the fascinating Garden City story that inspired the world

It may look like a town that has evolved over hundreds of years but until the start of the last century and mortar.

most of it was farmland. It was the vision of one man, social reformer Ebenezer Howard, that transformed Letchworth into the vibrant and attractive town you see today.

Sickened by the urban squalor of Victorian England, Howard made it his life’s work to create a town where everyone could enjoy fresh air and green spaces alongside the amenities of modern living.

In his 1898 book, To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform (republished as Garden Cities of Tomorrow), he claimed marrying create nothing less than “a new hope, a new life, a new civilisation”.

With the help of like-minded philanthropists and idealists, Howard founded Letchworth Garden City in 1903 to turn his drawing board ideas into bricks the best of town and country would

The town he built and the Garden City Movement it inspired, confounded critics and showed how a well-planned town could enhance well-being.

Having proved his model worked, Howard’s ideas were soon inspiring developments across the UK and around the world.

Ebenezer Howard

Pioneering architects Barry Parker and Raymond Unwin created a master plan in which the town was clearly laid out with distinct areas for housing, shops, civic buildings, parkland and industry.

Surrounding the town was to be a ring of agricultural land to grow food, which inspired the idea of the Green Belt. The plan included magnificent public parks and private gardens, also large enough to grow your own fruit and vegetables.

Many homes’ designs were influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement, celebrating traditional craftsmanship and the natural beauty of materials aligned with folk styles of decoration.

Howard also ensured the Garden City estate would forever be held in common for the good of all with the creation of First Garden City Limited, ensuring that the profits from land held in Letchworth have been reinvested into the town ever since.

The modern incarnation of this body is the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation, which continues to invest locally into healthcare, charities, education, and social and sporting amenities.

The Foundation also has a heritage role, maintaining the wonderful

Norton Common open feel of the town and protecting its picturesque homes while at the same time making sure the town evolves to meet the changing needs of its residents.

Carefully protected over many years, to nurture and develop those founding ambitions, the town has evolved into a living model for Garden City principles.

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